MIAMI — Two bitter Eastern Air Lines union leaders predict more labor strife for the carrier because they were ousted from the company's board of directors following Eastern's merger with Texas Air Corp.

Robert Callahan, head of Eastern's flight attendants union, and Charles Bryan, the machinists union leader, reported they were not on a list of nominees for the new board submitted by Eastern to Texas Air of Dallas after the $676 million merger was formally approved Tuesday.

Bryan and Callahan were outspoken opponents of the merger and led a union coalition in an attempt to thwart it.

They warned Thursday that the move would exacerbate labor tensions, expected to increase as Texas Air chairman Frank Lorenzo, who is perceived by the unions as hostile to organized labor, takes over.

''At a time when the labor force is going to be really critical to the survival of the company, you would think that Frank Lorenzo would put aside his predilection against labor and keep us there,'' Callahan said.

''As this transition occurs there are going to be rampant rumors,'' he said. Keeping the labor leaders on the board ''would have been a way of keeping things in check.''

Bryan and Callahan have sat on Eastern's board since 1984, when the airline's 40,000 employees agreed to a $367 million wage-for-stock swap.

Bryan said his removal from the board violates the machinists' contract.

''What they're saying is they're not going to honor the contract, which is consistent with everything else they're doing,'' he said.

A coalition of Eastern employees, led by union leaders, filed suit to block the merger.

A Miami federal judge Monday rejected a coalition request for an injunction to stop Tuesday's vote on the merger by Eastern shareholder. The unions asked for time to force consideration of their own employee buy-out proposal.

Eastern and Texas Air spokesmen refused to comment on the board's composition. An Eastern spokesman said the list probably would not be final until next week.